Selective mapping of coded multi-channel transmission

Abstract

The present invention provides a methods, apparatus and systems for improving a systems-level data rate on a communications link such the orthogonal frequency division multiplexed multiple access (OFDMA) downlink used in used in WiFi and LTE cellular/wireless mobile data applications. The present invention preferably uses a form of multilevel coding and decoding known as tiled-building-block encoding/decoding. With the present invention, different receivers coupled to different parallel downlink channels with different channel qualities decode different received signal constellations at different levels of resolution. This allows the downlink of the OFDMA system to operate with a significantly higher data rate, thus eliminating existing inefficiencies in the downlink and significantly increasing system level bandwidth efficiency.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for use in a particular user device of a multiuser communication system, the method comprising:
 selectively partitioning a sequence of coded bits from a particular bit stream into a sequence of fixed length blocks of coded bits; 
 sparsely mapping at least the sequence of fixed length blocks of coded bits into a resource block, wherein symbols of the resource block have a specified bit loading; and 
 transmitting the resource block via an uplink channel to a receiver of a base station of the multiuser communication system; 
 wherein the particular bit stream is one of a plurality of bit streams to be transmitted to the receiver of the base station in coordination therewith, one or more of bit streams of the plurality of bit streams are generated in other user devices apart from the particular user device, and the selective sparse mapping involves selectively not mapping bits from the particular bit stream onto certain symbol positions of the resource block. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fixed length corresponds to two bits, the specified bit loading is six bits, and variable selective mapping is used to determine the sparse mapping. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of bit streams includes a second coded bit stream generated within the particular user device. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , wherein the second coded bit stream is mapped in such a way that the variable selective mapping causes either four bits or six bits of the second coded bit stream to be mapped to each six bit symbol of the resource block. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein variable selective mapping is used to determine the sparse mapping, and the variable selective mapping is used to form symbols that selectively include different bits from different respective streams associated with different users. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular user device uses spatial multiplexing, variable selective mapping is used to determine the sparse mapping, and the variable selective mapping is used to form symbols that selectively include different bits from different respective streams associated with different antennas of the spatially multiplexed user device. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sparse mapping places the fixed length blocks of coded bits into selected symbols of the resource block. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein a second user device transmits a second bit stream of the plurality of bit streams, and a sparse mapping on the second user device is different from the sparse mapping on the particular user device. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the sparse mapping on the particular user device is determined by a first set of control bits and the sparse mapping on the second user device is determined by a second set of control bits. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the second user device is a peer user device and separate sparse mappings on the particular user device and the second user device serve to enhance an uplink efficiency in the multiuser communication system. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the particular user device and the second user device also engage in direct peer to peer communications. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the transmitting is performed by a transmission protocol selected from a group consisting of an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) physical layer protocol, a fourth generation long term evolution (4G LTE) uplink protocol, and a fifth generation (5G) uplink protocol. 
     
     
       13. A particular user device of a multiuser communication system, the particular user device comprising:
 at least one processor; 
 memory; and 
 program instructions stored in the memory that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the particular user device to: 
 selectively partition a sequence of coded bits from a particular bit stream into a sequence of fixed length blocks of coded bits; 
 sparsely map at least the sequence of fixed length blocks of coded bits into a resource block, wherein symbols of the resource block have a specified bit loading; and 
 transmit the resource block via an uplink channel to a receiver of a base station of the multiuser communication system; 
 wherein the particular bit stream is one of a plurality of bit streams to be transmitted to the receiver of the base station in coordination therewith, one or more of bit streams of the plurality of bit streams are generated in other user devices apart from the particular user device, and the selective sparse mapping involves selectively not mapping bits from the particular bit stream onto certain symbol positions of the resource block. 
 
     
     
       14. The particular user device of  claim 13 , wherein the fixed length corresponds to two bits, the specified bit loading is six bits, and variable selective mapping is used to determine the sparse mapping. 
     
     
       15. The particular user device of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of bit streams includes a second coded bit stream generated within the particular user device. 
     
     
       16. The particular user device of  claim 15 , wherein the second coded bit stream is mapped in such a way that the variable selective mapping causes either four bits or six bits of the second coded bit stream to be mapped to each six bit symbol of the resource block. 
     
     
       17. The particular user device of  claim 13 , wherein variable selective mapping is used to determine the sparse mapping, and the variable selective mapping is used to form symbols that selectively include different bits from different respective streams associated with different users. 
     
     
       18. The particular user device of  claim 13 , wherein the particular user device uses spatial multiplexing, variable selective mapping is used to determine the sparse mapping, and the variable selective mapping is used to form symbols that selectively include different bits from different respective streams associated with different antennas of the spatially multiplexed user device. 
     
     
       19. The particular user device of  claim 13 , wherein the sparse mapping places the fixed length blocks of coded bits into selected symbols of the resource block. 
     
     
       20. A multiuser communication system comprising:
 a first user device configured to:
 selectively partition a sequence of coded bits from a particular bit stream into a sequence of fixed length blocks of coded bits; 
 sparsely map at least the sequence of fixed length blocks of coded bits into a resource block, wherein symbols of the resource block have a specified bit loading; and 
 transmit the resource block via an uplink channel to a receiver of a base station of the multiuser communication system; 
 wherein the particular bit stream is one of a plurality of bit streams to be transmitted to the receiver of the base station in coordination therewith, one or more of bit streams of the plurality of bit streams are generated in other user devices apart from the particular user device, and the selective sparse mapping involves selectively not mapping bits from the particular bit stream onto certain symbol positions of the resource block; and 
 
 a second user device configured to:
 transmit a second bit stream of the plurality of bit streams, wherein a sparse mapping on the second user device is different from the sparse mapping on the particular user device.